No house was in sight, but half a mile farther up the valley was Hank Low’s cabin.
This spot where they stood had been part of Hank Low’s farm.
He had had a hard struggle trying to make a living out of his land, and had not succeeded very well.
There was a heavy mortgage to be lifted, besides.
One day a couple of men came to Mason Creek and spent a good deal of time tramping about the country.
One of them was William Claymore.
After a few days of tramping about, Claymore offered to buy the most useless part of Hank Low’s farm.
He mentioned the name of Rev. Elijah Judson as a man who was interested with him in some kind of a plan.
Nothing very definite was said about it, but Low understood that the clergyman meant to put up a private school for young ladies, and wanted the land for that purpose.
A deal was made by which Low was able to pay off his mortgage, but nothing more.